Business of a Personal Nature
by DevinBourdain
Summary: The conclusion of the retribution series. Alexi's plan comes to a climax forcing a showdown between him and the Seaview crew. Series part 5 of 5. Warnings: see profile for series content.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea characters are not mine, just borrowed for this story.

Reviews are always welcome.

Business of a Personal Nature

Chapter 1

The dim lights in Med-bay were just bright enough for Jamie to read his notes. His only companion was the constant beep that reflected Nelson's heartbeat. Having chased out Crane and Morton hours earlier, Jamie had occupied the seat by his friend's bedside. The doctor closed the file in his lap and leaned back in his chair; running a hand through his thinning hair he let out a deep sigh. _How the hell did it ever come to this?_

The last few months had been some of the most stressful the crew of the mighty _Seaview_ had ever faced, and having saved the world a time or two, that was saying a lot. Even their good news was tainted with heartache. Morton had been believed to be dead in an explosion that destroyed the underwater base and, after several attacks on various crewmen, there had been reason to believe that Chip was in fact alive and being held by the people responsible for the bombing. That news had been overshadowed by the failed attempt to locate the exec, the disappearance of Lieutenant O'Brien and the attempted murder of Admiral Nelson at the hands of someone they all trusted. Again, the return of Morton and O'Brien should have been a joyous occasion but Michelle O'Brien's efforts had been rather successful in leaving the Admiral hanging by a thread. The most recent contradiction of fortune occurred when Nelson had showed signs of regaining consciousness but as he was slowly on the mend Jamie was forced to start looking for a cure to a poison that was slowly killing Chip.

Jamieson had been reading information produced from the lab regarding Morton's blood sample for the last two days, and had yet to stumble on a break though. Alexi had spoke of an antidote, so it was possible to save the Commander's life; but would Will be able to find it before it was too late?

He was exhausted; his days were spent tending to Nelson and making sure Lee and Chip were taking care of themselves. Having to find excuses to see Chip in private and run additional tests, away from Crane's eyes, was a constant source of frustration; but a promise was a promise. If Morton didn't tell the Captain _very_ soon about his current predicament, then Jamie was definitely going to do so and then tear a stripe off of Chip. While he found the exec's motive for secrecy admirable, Lee still need to be told that his best friend was dying; unless Jamieson pulled out another miracle. The main problem with telling Crane about the poison was the promise of an antidote that Alexi had offered; their adversary was more than willing to spare the exec if the Captain came to personally claim the cure and offer up his life to the mad man. Morton always went to great lengths to protect Lee from himself, but this time it could very well end up costing Chip his life.

* * *

The exec awoke to the smell of breakfast being cooked. Staying at Lee's house did have some perks, but Chip would be glad when he could move back into his own place. It always took a few moments for reality to hit and he had to remind himself that he might not have much time left. Based on how he felt, Morton could blissfully pretend that it wasn't true and if Jamieson's test hadn't said otherwise than Chip would have believed that Alexi had been lying. He had absolute faith that Jamie would be able to figure this out in time, but Morton knew he had to be real about the whole situation; then there was what to do about telling his friend. If he didn't do it he knew that the doctor would, and then Lee would gladly go and be the sacrificial lamb. He had to give Alexi credit; he seemed to always have one over on the _Seaview_ crew.

* * *

"I'm sorry sir" said the man in the leather jacket, "Crane got away as well."

"I want you to bring the body back here Jeff. Now get out of my sight" snapped Alexi.

Anger began to boil his blood and an incredible urge to unload an arsenal on NIMR called to him. It was personal before, but now Crane had just pushed it to another level by killing Itami. Logan being thrown in prison was in part his brother's doing but to murder the one person Alexi viewed as his own child? That would require going back to the drawing board and adding a little more death and torture to his game plan.

A bullet to the head would be too kind now. No, more was needed to balance the scale; retribution would be swift, complete and bloody, and would not end with Crane.

Alexi proceeded to drown his sorrows in a very expensive bottle of scotch and plan out various scenarios regarding destroying everyone involved with Nelson's institute; they would all pay for spilling his blood. He knew once he was sober, objective sensibility would return to his plans; but right now it was nice to dream of convoluted schemes and bathing in the blood of his enemies.

He would leave his next course of action up to Morton. The XO would either hang himself or Crane; though he suspected the idiot would choose the former. Which possibility would provide him with the greatest amount of pleasure?

_Misery loves company._ Alexi picked up the phone.

* * *

Lee whistled as he walked through the cafeteria and picked up an apple at the counter; he proceeded to toss it in the air and catch it as he made his way to the coffee station. This was the first morning he had woken up in a good mood and was drinking coffee because he wanted to, and not because it would be the only thing keeping him going throughout the day.

Chip had managed not only to get himself home, but O'Brien as well; and while the Admiral was still in bad shape, he was making progress. It would be a slow improvement, as the man had yet to be able to hold a conversation with anyone for more than five minutes before he tired himself out. The crew was in good shape, and Riley would be returning to duty within the next few weeks.

There was still Alexi's dark cloud hanging over all of their heads, but Lee wasn't going to let it ruin their positive momentum. Despite the man's success rate at the start of their tango, things had recently been going Crane's way. Alexi had failed to kill the Admiral and he had failed to confine Morton and O'Brien; things seemed to be slowly unravelling on that end, while information and success seemed to be blooming on theirs.

At present Logan was sitting in an interrogation room and, with any luck, he was spilling his guts to ONI. If they could get the location of all Alexi's bases, then there would be no place left for the man to hide. A search was immediately launched in the area that O'Brien and Morton had been found for Alexi's compound, but the place had been abandoned by the time it was located; it appeared that the man still had a few rat holes left to hide in.

Lee took his apple and coffee back up to his office to read through the latest transcripts of Logan's interrogations; Crane had forgotten how the man liked the sound of his own voice. Logan had lots to say at this point; unfortunately it didn't pertain to anything of any value.

* * *

Chip was sitting in his temporary office with the lights off. The darkness mildly helped to alleviate the sharp stabbing pain in his head. Morton had taken several pain relievers in the last two hours but they didn't even take the edge off of his blinding headache. He knew he should probably go down to see Jamie and try to get something stronger but the thought of having to go out into the hall amongst all those bright lights made him rather nauseous. The sharp ring of his office phone made the exec jump. The thought of picking up the offending object and smashing it into a million pieces was very tempting but Chip answered it instead.

"Yes?"

"How do you feel today Charles?"

Chip pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes; Alexi was never going to go away. Morton had nightmares of the man giving his eulogy; somehow that would be fitting. Alexi had managed to worm his way into every part of Chip's life, including obtaining a phone number to an unlisted number in his temporary office; why not be the person to say the final words about his life?

"Like I could run a marathon," Chip replied trying to keep the pain from his voice.

"Going to be stoic to end are we? I was hoping you had changed your mind and decided to tell your Captain about the exchange. Of course we are both assuming that he would be willing to die for you; we could be wrong, he might value his own life more than yours. I mean it would only be fair if he did; this is what, the second time, you're going to die for him Charles?"

If the clock was counting down, Morton wasn't going to waste time playing games with a mad man. "I imagine your Christmas is going to suck this year, what with Michelle _and_ Logan in prison."

Morton had gone for unbalancing Alexi; but even in the short silence that followed Chip, could sense that awful smile of his.

"My loyalty doesn't lie with Michelle; she can rot there for all I care. As for Logan; well, it took you long enough to figure out. But I wouldn't worry about my future holiday plans; I'd be more worried how Karen and Jack are going to handle the holidays with one less child."

"My time might be running out, but you're going to be right behind me!"

"That could very well be true Charles, but I'm still going to win."

"And what is it you're going to win from all of this?"

"Retribution. Your Captain took everything from me, and I plan to take everything from him. If you've learnt anything at all, you should know I keep my word; after all, I did let you go unharmed."

Chip snorted at the preposterousness of Alexi's statement. "You didn't let me go, we escaped; and poisoning me is hardly unharmed."

"Oh, you didn't think it would be that easy did you? Watching you die painfully is so much more satisfying then finding a dead body, so you had to go home Charles. But I'll leave you with this thought: if you had stayed here like a good little prisoner you'd still be receiving the antidote and Crane wouldn't have to offer himself up in exchange for your life."

"He won't do it, I won't let him!" shouted Chip.

"He'll do it; we both know he will and his death will be your fault." His last line was punctuated by a click of the phone.

The killer headache that Chip was trying to relieve faded into the background as his heart started to pound and his breathing picked up. Alexi's words while cruel were true; Lee would do anything Alexi asked if he dangled the exec in front of him.


	2. Chapter 2

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* * *

Chip placed his tray down on the table. All he had grabbed for lunch was half a sandwich and an apple and that was starting to look unappetising. His migraine had downgraded to a killer headache so the lights in the cafeteria weren't offering any excruciating torture but his stomach was protesting the idea of consuming anything solid.

He twisted the top off of his water bottle and reached into his pocket for the bottle of painkillers that he had become rather attached to over the last few days. He dumped out two into his hand and tossed them back just as Lee sat down. He knew his friend had noticed him taking the pills and had no doubt noticed several such incidents over the last little while.

Morton knew the conversation was coming; eventually Lee was going to stop pretending to look the other way about the headaches or some other symptom would rear its ugly head. So far Jamie hadn't found anything promising. The doctor had insisted that the exec report to Med-bay at the start of everyday, at some point in the afternoon and again before he went home. That was a little easier to hide; though he wasn't particularly thrilled about using Nelson's condition as an excuse for his frequent trips to Med-bay.

". . .but he does like to listen to himself talk. Unfortunately it's not about anything useful, except for the imminent alien invasion," said Lee.

Imminent alien invasion? Had Chip heard that correctly? "What?"

"I knew you weren't listening."

"Sorry, what were you saying?"

"I said, Logan doesn't seem to want to divulge anything useful." Crane wasn't mad at the exec drifting away from the conversation, maybe a little irritated, but the smile remained on his face.

Chip downed his whole water bottle. "Did you really expect him to sing like a canary? Are you going to drink that?" Morton asked pointing to the extra bottle of water Crane grabbed from the kitchen. Crane shook his head and slid the bottle across the table and watched his friend finish that bottle to.

Was it hot in there or was it just Chip? "Look, we both know Alexi isn't done. Sooner or later he's going to surface and I just want you to promise me you're not going to do something stupid."

Lee put on his most innocent face. "_Me_?"

"No, the other klutzy, self-destructive, stubborn, tragic hero-type that Captains _Seaview!"_

"I'm not klutzy."

Morton rolled his eyes and stood up pushing his tray to the side. "I'll see you in Nelson's room later this afternoon."

Lee went back to eating his lunch. It was however, not the first lunch he noticed his friend had not eaten this week.

* * *

"What's the word today Doc?" asked Sharkey as he entered the medical building.

"I'm afraid there really hasn't been much of a change."

"Is it alright, I mean can I go in and see him? The guys kinda wanted an update and. . ."

A smile appeared on Jamie's face. "Yes Chief you can go in. I just can't guarantee he'll be much of a conversationalist. He needs a lot of rest to recover plus all the medication keeps him under pretty good."

"Thanks Doc."

"Fifteen minutes though, that's all," added Will as he nodded his head towards the Admiral's room.

The crew had come to visit the Admiral once in a while. They all knew that the skipper and Nelson's sister had pretty much been a constant by the man's side and not wanting to intrude had kept themselves away from med-bay. They all popped in for updates; usually it was Sharkey or Kowalski that had been designated the official status checkers.

Sharkey sat down on the chair near the bed that was usually occupied by the Captain. He had actually been in to see the Admiral twice before he was called to rescue Morton and O'Brien. The exec had been a constant presence there as well since his return.

Edith was staying at Nelson's home since she arrived in town. She came in to visit during the evening so Nelson wasn't overwhelmed with visitors during the day. It also gave her a chance to take care of his affairs during the day. Where Nelson found the time for all of his obligations was beyond everyone. At present it was taking five of them to hold things together.

Sharkey was twiddling his thumbs in an effort to occupy his time; the Admiral was asleep when he sat down and he didn't want to wake his boss unjust fully. The deep croak caught him off guard.

"How's crew?"

The Chief looked over at the man in the bed and saw him looking back at him with half opened eyes.

"The crew sir?" Sharkey tried to clarify. The Admiral nodded his head slightly.

"There, there good sir. We're keeping _Seaview _in tip top shape for you. The boys wanted me to tell you to get better soon."

The Admiral nodded at the news and soon his eyes fluttered close. It was a brief exchange but it offered hope that Sharkey didn't realize he was looking for. The crew had overcome so much; they would get through this too. He was Admiral Nelson after all, nothing kept that man down.

* * *

.


	3. Chapter 3

The sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky; the delightful warmth of the day radiated through the large class windows in the conference room. The cheerfulness of the world outside did not reflect the tone of the meeting occurring at NIMR.

The assemble people were seated around the large cherry wood table; it was a classified meeting involving the two heads of security, Morton, Ryan, Angie, O'Brien and Davenport. The Captain sat at the head of the table leading the discussion; their topic of the day was Alexi Kozlov.

Security had several ideas to help minimize the likelihood of an intruder on base, though everyone believed that if Alexi wanted to make an appearance there would be no force on this earth that would prevent him from doing so.

Ryan relayed information from Starke and the current pressures from Washington; she also read a prepared report on Jamie's behalf. The doctor tried to minimize the time he spent away from Med-bay of late, citing he didn't want to stray too far in case something changed in the Admiral's condition. Only two people knew or suspected there was another reason the doctor had locked himself away down there. As of the meeting there was no real change in Nelson's status, just that barring any complications he was expected to recover in time. He didn't seem to bounce back quite as well as he did when he was younger.

Angie reviewed what matters were being relayed to the shareholders and general public, and which were being kept from everyone except those in this room to prevent things becoming gossip amongst the staff. It wasn't that they didn't trust their people but, in light of recent events, it did seem anything could be used against them.

Davenport ran over the things concerning the sub. Extra precautions were being taken to safe guard the pride of the Institute; sabotage was something they didn't want to chance. _Seaview_ herself wasn't likely to be a target as Crane had cancelled all missions; and since the Navy knew the situation, the only way they would be called into action was for a mission no one else could do. It was better to be cautious now, than to take the chance that they might be called and give Alexi an opportunity.

The subject of Alexi himself fell to Morton. Chip was able to provide detailed description and his assessment of the man's skills and resources; he also had insight into the lengths Alexi would go, and the type of schemes he might have in play to get at the crew in general and Crane in particular.

Lee gave a rundown of the less than helpful information gathered on, and from, Logan. Even though they knew who their enemy was, the world knew surprisingly little about the family and their pervious actions; if one had to give credit, where credit was due, than one had to say that this family was amazing at what they did.

They could plan and prepare for absolutely anything, and still it seemed like Alexi would have some other tactic that they hadn't thought of. At this point Crane wasn't prepared to rule out the devil being employed by the man, or finding out the final battle would involve giant robots from Jupiter. All he could do was wait for his foe to make a mistake; after all he was only human. They took Logan down; they would bring Alexi to justice as well.

The intercom buzzed on the table and Crane reached over and hit the flashing button. "Yes?"

"Sorry to interrupt sir, but you have an important call from Washington that requires your attention," explained Sparks who was covering Ryan's phones while she was in the meeting.

"I'll take it in my office in two minutes" Crane replied. He pushed the button on the intercom again, then turned to the group gathered in the conference room "that concludes our meeting."

Ryan, Lieutenant O'Brien, the two heads of security, and Angie gathered their notes and files and followed Lee out of the room. Chip noticed he wasn't the only person left; sitting across the table staring at him was Davenport. "Can I help you?" asked Morton.

"Just trying to put the pieces together; judging by your consumption of pills and water over the last few days, your secret liaisons with the doc, and your willingness to give control to me, I'd say something's wrong. I'm not a doctor; but based on symptoms, timing and the nature of the psycho we're dealing with, I'd say he left you with a little parting gift. So I guess the question now is, what is it and is it killing you?" offered Lyndon in a tone that sounded like he was discussing the weather forecast.

_How the hell did he know that?_ "Are you spying on me?" It was a comment that would have had most people back peddling and trying to deny but, true to Lee's description of the man, the comment didn't faze Lyndon and was met with cool indifference.

"Should I be?"

Not wanting to divulge his secret to someone he had known for about a minute, Chip asked "how did you formulate this idea?"

"I've dealt with a few people like Alexi, been in a few situations where this would be the logical course of action."

"I know I should ask, but I'm not going to."

"It would probably be better if you didn't."

"To answer your questions, yes and yes. Jamie is working to see if he can find a cure and Crane doesn't know, nor will he."

"Look, I don't know any of you and in the grand scheme of my life it doesn't matter to me who's standing in the end . . ."

Morton felt the need to interject, "That's touching."

Rolling his eyes, Davenport continued "I don't have anything against any of you, but I also don't have any personal attachment. I mean I'm not going to needlessly order men to their death, but I doubt I would be as broken up about it as any one of you would be."

"Fair enough." The sentiment sounded cold, but if you had no personal attachment to people it was harder to get emotional about their lives. Davenport hadn't been with the crew more than a few months, and the time that he had been there he hadn't received the warmest of welcomes.

"As long as you're not running the show, you can keep all the dirty little secrets about your health that you want. But people do tend to make better decisions if they know the whole score and have all the facts."

"I know what I'm doing" assured Chip.

"Ya _right._ Let me know if you need a hand with anything. In the meantime you could try drinking Gatorade with ginger in it; it might let you eat your lunch."

Before Chip could reply Lyndon was already out the door and heading back to his office.

* * *

Chip was on his way to Med-bay for his second daily check-up. When he walked past Crane's office he noticed that the Captain was engaged in a conversation on speakerphone; with any luck, Chip and Jamie could be done with their routine before he even got off the phone. The elevator doors opened and the exec stepped inside.

Morton's cell rang and without answering, he knew who it was. He stared at it for a moment and took a deep breath; he wasn't really in the mood to deal with the lunatic on top of everything else. He was definitely running a fever and his stomach was cramping something fierce; he hadn't had a full blown migraine lately, but it had morphed in to a constant dull thud that never seemed to go away.

The phone screen flashed call ended and the ringing stopped but the respite was only momentary as another call flashed on screen. Realizing Alexi wasn't going to take no for an answer today, Chip decided to just get his daily dose of psycho out of the way. "My answer's no."

"You don't even know my question Charles. No, you're not feeling? You should probably look into that. I think that a complete lack of feeling is probably something a professional should address."

"Cut the crap. I'm not telling Crane and he's not meeting you; so we can just sever all ties now and not worry about sending each other a Christmas card this year" snapped Chip.

"I think Itami must have damaged the part of your brain that controls your manners Charles, you've become very rude of late and I don't like it."

Chip swallowed hard and blinked his eye in an attempt to rid himself of the blurriness. The elevator dinged open and he took a shaky step out; running his hand along the wall for support, he started to stagger towards his ultimate destination. He wanted to tell Alexi where he could stick his comment; hell, he wanted to do a lot of things - but it wasn't going to happen.

Alexi could hear a moan of pain followed by a thud on the other end of the line. _Oh dear, sounds like it's not going well after all._


	4. Chapter 4

The sight that greeted Crane as he walked into Med-bay burned itself into the back of his mind. When Jamie had called and asked the Captain to come down quickly, he had imagined the Admiral had managed to stay awake for more than a couple of minutes; not this.

Chip was lying on a gurney connected to a series of monitors and an oxygen mask; one of the corpsmen was busy taking down the unconscious exec's vitals. Jamieson walked around the corner and Lee immediately pounced.

"What the hell happened?"

Will looked over at the newest arrival and raised a finger informing the Captain he needed a minute. He turned to his corpsmen and asked for an update; they reviewed Chips latest readings and Jamieson issued several orders to Steve, who promptly began to carry them out. Jamie closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath; there was no way this conversation was going to go well. Even though he had been working nonstop to try and create an antidote along with dozens of other staff members, medical, science and research alike, none of them had anything promising.

"There are some things I need to tell you Captain" Will said as he grabbed the young man by the arm and escorted him into his office.

If the doctor was hiding behind rank, things must be bad. The day had started out fine; granted there were the usual issues to contend with, but nothing that pointed to ending up with Chip in med-bay. "What's going on Jamie?"

"Did Chip talk to you at all?"

"Talk to me? Talk to me about what?"

Will shook his head. _Damn you Morton; you were supposed to tell him._ Deep down Jamieson had a feeling the exec wouldn't tell his friend in a stubborn effort to shield Crane from all that was wrong in the world; but like all good intentions, they always led to hell. "Chip's dying."

The words were like a kick to the chest. _How could he be dying? _All the air seemed to rush out of the room, and the tie around Crane's neck was suddenly way too tight; he unconsciously began to loosen it.

"How can he be dying; he was fine this morning. Wasn't he?" _Wasn't he?_ Lee began to replay the last few days back in his head. Chip had been experiencing headaches recently, but that could be the stress or the lack of food he was eating. It shocked Crane just how little he had being pay attention to the people right in front of him lately.

"It's Alexi; he poisoned Chip just before they escaped. I've been searching for a cure, but so far we haven't been able to find anything. I'm not sure how much longer he has; but unless we do something soon, he doesn't have that long Lee."

"How- how do you know Alexi poisoned him?"

"Chip received a phone call shortly after he arrived back home; Alexi told him that he had been poisoned by an engineered substance that only he has the antidote for. This isn't anything we've ever come across, and from what we can tell most of the world believes it only exists in theory."

Anger flashed in Carne's eyes. "He's known about this since he got back; why didn't he tell me? Why didn't _you!"_

If the situation were reversed, Will would probably have been standing there with the same accusatory tone that was being directed at him now. All their good intentions seemed so shallow and hollow at that moment. "He didn't want you to worry."

"He didn't . . .!" Crane bit off the rest; he was exasperated and terrified. "But what about you? This doesn't just affect him; I'm his commanding officer, I'm his friend, Jamie!"

"I told him he had to tell you or I would; he begged me not to! He didn't want you to . . ." Jamieson stopped himself before he finished his thought.

"He didn't want me to what?"

"Alexi offered him a trade; you for the cure. He didn't want you running off to die for him."

"And what? I'm just supposed to stand here and watch _him_ die? Well it's not going to happen, so you better tell me everything you know about his contact with Alexi."

Jamie told Crane everything Chip had divulged about Alexi's threats over the last few days, but it wasn't very much. The doctor couldn't give anything for Crane to go on, and from his prognosis it didn't appear that Chip would be able to clear things up.

Lee sat in Morton's chair in his temporary office. How could all of this been going on right under his nose; he had been watching Chip so carefully since his return. How could he not notice that his friend was slowly dying, let alone that Alexi was still harassing him?

The Captain began to go through all of the desk drawers and office files looking for any clue as to how to contact Alexi or when he wanted to conduct the exchange. After turning over every item and covering every square inch of the office, Lee still had nothing to work with.

He began to retrace his friend's actions over the last few days. With Chip staying at Lee's house, the two had spent most of their time together. He couldn't remember anything out of the ordinary except- the first night when he had returned from grabbing dinner. Chip had stayed behind while Lee went out to get some food. When Crane had come home he heard a crash that turned out to be Morton relocating his cell phone with extreme prejudice. _Chip's cell phone! _Alexi had to have contacted Chip via his cell.

Morton's phone had been given to Ryan who would deal with any callers in regards to the current situation. In their line of work, an important call shouldn't go to voice mail if it could be helped. When Lee entered the office he found Ryan engaged in a conference call; with any luck she would be too distracted to ask any unwanted questions about Lee's intentions. The less anyone knew the better. If Crane didn't have the information then there would be no way he could face Alexi; he knew they were just trying to protect him but right now he needed to do what he did best, regardless of safety.

In a quiet but firm voice Lee said, "I need Chip's phone."

Ryan cocked her eyebrow and gave the Captain a confused but questioning look.

"He has some notes on there I need for one of my reports," the skipper offered.

She placed her hand over the phone speaker and whispered, "It's the blue one on the table over there. Just make sure you bring it back by the time I'm off this call."

He gave her a big smile and nodded his acceptance of her stipulation and left for his office; turning on the cell revealed one new message. It took four tries but Crane eventually cracked Chip's voicemail access code to play the message.

Beep. "Charles, just because we don't get along is no reason to let me deal with your answering machine all the time. I'm going to give you one last chance to change your mind and turn Crane over to me. I'm sure by now the headaches, cramps, nausea and debilitating pain has made you reconsider your position. Seven o'clock, Chateau Juneau, room 210, Tuesday."

Seven o'clock Tuesday; that gave Lee four hours to work out what he was going to do; he would need back up but who? He was sure that by now Chip had informed the whole Institute not to let him go to this meeting. If he went to any of the crew, they would probably rat him out to Jamie; who was no doubt the ring leader since Morton's admittance to Med-bay. Crane couldn't blame them; they were probably right. He was definitely going to go out and do something incredibly reckless and suicidal; but if he could save his friend, it would all be worth it.


	5. Chapter 5

_If you can't count on your friends to let you do horrifically dangerous things, you visit your local temporary exec that has zero love for you. _Lee found himself outside Chip's old office debating the merit of his plan. Davenport had demonstrated that he had earned his position and, who knew, with his odd resources maybe this would work. Crane entered without knocking; it was more out of habit when entering this particular office than an attempt at irritating the man that currently resided within.

Lyndon didn't even look up at the intrusion; with his eyes still glued to his computer he said "who's the marksmen amongst the crew?"

Totally taken aback by the question, let alone the circumstance in which it was asked, Lee managed to mutter "what?"

"The person with the best shot; who do you think it would be?" clarified Lyndon, with a look that screamed this was the most normal question one could ask of someone who barged into your office.

Crane closed his eyes in an attempt to forestall the headache he felt coming on. How did Davenport always manage to get on his nerves? "I don't know; Patterson has a very steady hand, Jefferson has a tremendous amount of hours logged on the range and I haven't seen Jacobs ever miss."

The XO just nodded and proceeded to write down the information on his note pad. "What about explosives?"

"What is this - twenty questions?"

"Ya, and there's eighteen left; so the quicker you answer, the quicker we're done."

_Yep, last nerve, right there._ "Flyn and Carmen, but . . . "

"What about drivers?"

"What are you doing; knocking over a bank?" Crane's voice raised a notch and a scowl crept across his face.

Unfazed by his Captain's growing frustration, Lyndon continued in a light conversational tone "not today."

They both stared at each other for a moment.

"Well I guess it depends on what you had in mind; losing a tail: Connors. Acquiring transport and making a getaway: Sharkey."

"Ok, now what did you want?"

Lee was trying really hard to remember the rules about punching out someone under his command. "That's it? You basically quiz me on who you should recruit for an armed robbery, and yet don't feel that perhaps you should elaborate a little?"

"While I'm sure my retirement fund could use the boost that a hold up would produce, I would imagine you busted into my office for a reason. Now what can I do for you?"

"This was a bad idea."

"If it's yours, I'm sure it is. But just for shits and giggles, why don't you run it by me?"

Crane weighed the pros and cons of what was likely to be the worst decision in his career. Failure wasn't an option here, so what choice did he have? He let out a deep breath and said, "I need your help."

* * *

"Run it by me one more time."

Crane slid the clip back into his gun as he began to once more sum up his plan – however misguided it might be. "I'm going to go in for the meeting and you're going to circle around the back' after, I get the antidote for Chip, that's your cue to come in guns a blazing."

"The two of us against his probable fifty in an attempt to outplay a man who has had the upper hand for months? Well, when you put it like that, it almost sounds like we have a shot at pulling this off," huffed Davenport. "Remind me again how you talked me into this?"

"You mumbled something about your kids being at a sleepover and having nothing to do tonight. Now get ready," ordered Crane as he exited the car and moved towards the motel.

Lyndon sat there and watched the blurry figure disappear behind the sheets of rain and enter the hotel. _Get out of the nice warm car and go stand in a wet dark alley where some hired gun is going to put two in my back. Brilliant. __Note to self - h__e's __definitely __not allowed to make the plans anymore._ Davenport checked his gun one last time before getting out and jogging towards the back alley.

Crane raised his fist and tapped it against the door. He heard the lock click and the door creak open; a man dressed in black pushed the door wide open and motioned him to enter. Lee strode boldly into the room to find a muscular man standing behind an older gentleman who was seated in the middle of the room. The door closed behind them and Crane took a few more steps into the space.

The man in the chair smiled. "Not who I was expecting, but you'll do."

Based on the description Chip had given, there was no doubt that Lee had come face to face with his tormentor. "I have to say, I'm underwhelmed. I expected something grander; maybe a castle, a doorman with a limp and you with a white cat on your lap."

"Well the cat's at the vet, good doormen are hard to find and a mortgage on a castle is just too pricey these days."

Crane sized up his opponents and the layout of the room; the odds seemed pretty even.

"I assume Charles is hanging on by a thread. It's a shame really; all of this could've been avoided so easily. However it seems like you'll get your chance to play the white knight after all; but then again . . ." Alexi held up to a finger to stall the conversation as he waited for something.

Two shots sounded from out in the back alley followed by someone else returning fire. Four more shots rang out and then there was silence. Lee held his breath hoping that Davenport was going to come bursting through the back door.

"It looks like your little friend isn't going to make the party after all. No matter, I don't recall sending him an invitation."

Before the Captain could lunge at Alexi, the goon at the door grabbed him by the arms and twisted them behind his back. He struggled as he felt the hard plastic zap straps tighten around his wrists, but was no match for the brute that was manhandling him.

Alexi stood up and reached into his pocket. Crane swallowed hard as he prepared himself for the end; but instead of the cold barrel of a gun, Alexi dangled a syringe in front of him. He walked over and jabbed it into Crane's arm.

Lee could feel the contents of the needle burn in his veins as the world slowed to a crawl. Words became hard to understand as they too inched at a slow pace into his ears. He could feel Alexi pull his gun out of his pocket and slide it across the floor. He wanted to fight as Goon 2 hauled him to his feet and guided him towards the door, but his limbs didn't want to cooperate with what he wanted to do.

Once outside, the rain began to run into his eyes as he frantically tried to see some clue that Lyndon was still alive; but as his captor's threw him into the truck of their car, Lee saw nothing. The trunk lid slammed down and with it the hope that this mission would be successful. In a matter of minutes the fate of three officers had been sealed.


	6. Chapter 6

Everything was a blur filled with intermittent blocks of black. Lee's mouth was painfully dry and the cloth jammed in between his lips did not help the situation. His hands were still restrained behind him; but instead of being locked in the stuffy, airless trunk, he was now at least tied to a chair. However, the room was dark and he was alone at the moment.

He wriggled a little to test his bonds and blinked a few time to try and get rid of the blurriness. It was probably a good thing there was only a small dim light in the room; he had a feeling bright illumination would just aggravate the small grip nausea had on him now, and he wouldn't give that mad freak Alexi the satisfaction of watching him throw up.

Crane wasn't sure how far they'd driven; his memory pretty much ended when the trunk lid closed. He could be anywhere from down the street to the other side of the world. The situation was certainly not playing out as he'd planned.

There had been so much riding on this plan, and it would have worked if Alexi hadn't had someone in the alley. They'd even been prepared for that play. Was this man really that good that he knew what Lee was going to do before he did it; or was the Captain so consumed with his friends that he was making rookie mistakes? And what was Davenport's problem; the man was supposed to be good, how did he fall for it? That wasn't fair; Lyndon was laying dead in an alley, no matter what had happened he should've been more prepared for it. He was the Captain of _Seaview_ and an excellent agent, he should have been able to beat this lunatic.

Lee shook his head; all these thought weren't doing him any good. What was done was done. He still had a mission to complete and he could, no _would,_ complete it.

The lights flashed on and Crane shut his eyes to block out the assaulting brightness. Several sets of footsteps echoed off the walls and the gag was roughly ripped from his mouth.

"I see our guest of honour is awake," said Alexi as he placed a chair in front of Crane. He sat down as Goon 2 stood behind Lee.

"Wha..." Crane's voice cracked and he licked his dry lips and tried again, "what do you want?"

"Is that any kind of attitude to take? Here I come bringing you gifts and you're giving me attitude."

Alexi paused a moment as his guest glared at him. After a few moments he decided to continue with his game.

"Well alright then." Kozlov reached into his pocket and pulled out a digital watch. He dangled it in front of Crane so he could read the time. The watch didn't tell time at all, rather it was counting down and had roughly two days left.

"I've calculated how long your friend has to live. When the watch beeps, Charles will be dead." Alexi reached around and fastened the watch to Crane's wrist. There was no real need to see the numbers counting down all that mattered now was the final beep signifying the end of the countdown and apparently Chip's life.

"Why are you doing this," demanded Lee.

"You know, I thought long and hard about how I wanted this to end. I was so sure I wanted nothing more than to put a bullet in your head but seeing you here now, looking all defeated and helpless, I think I have something much better in mind."

"What's that?"

"I'm going to let you live!"

Crane snapped, "and why would you do that?"

"Because it all means nothing if you're dead; I want you to face every day with the knowledge that everyone you care about, everyone you know, died because of you. You've ruined my plans, you ruined my brother; you've destroyed the lives of people I value. Oh your career has been glorious, but now it's time to pay the piper. Actions have consequences, and now you will face yours; you can think about that every day of what I hope will be an extremely long, and miserable, life. When your friends are dead, I will let you go and if you decide to eat a bullet as a means of atonement, I won't stop you; but I won't be the one to do it for you and release you from your misery."

Lee felt his breath catch and the icy fingers of fear claw at his soul. Sure there had always been that little wisp of fear that this was the moment he was going to die, or this is the moment things didn't go his way or this was the last moment; but that feeling was nothing like this. The feeling was compounded at the sight of the object in Alexi's hand.

Alexi rolled the vial in between his fingers; the blue liquid sloshing back and forth in the container.

"So near, but so far Captain. Charles' precious cure right within your reach; but oh wait, your hands are tied - you can't reach it." He pocketed the vial and left the room leaving Lee alone to ponder his present predicament.

The hours passed slowly eventually building to a day. It was the day after that that Goon 2 re-entered the room and gave Lee a drink of water. If it weren't for the situation and the person giving him the drink, Lee would have considered it a glorious moment.

After his thirst was quenched, Goon 2 pulled out another needle and, with all the delicate care and attention one would foresee a henchman as having, stabbed it into Crane's shoulder. The effect was the same as before and Crane could do nothing as the world faded into oblivion.

The muscled man untied the limp body from the chair and threw it over his shoulder as though it were nothing at all; he carried his burden out to the car and dumped it in the trunk. He had orders to make sure their guest didn't miss the climax to his employer's well crafted production and, like all good henchmen, he was going to follow those orders.


	7. Chapter 7

Ryan sat next to Chip's bed and held the unconscious man's hand as she watched the declining vitals on the monitors.

"Any word from Lee yet?" she asked as Jamie came over to jot some readings down on his chart.

"No."

"It's been two days. He needs to be here."

"I'm sure he's doing everything he can; we just have to have faith that it will work. There's really nothing else we can do," offered the doctor.

"I should call his parents." Ryan however made no move to leave the ailing man's side.

The Captain had disappeared two days ago much to the alarm of the staff and crew at the Institute. It didn't take Jamieson long to figure out where he would have gone. Part of him wanted to strangle the Captain for undertaking what was most likely a dangerous endeavour; but another part couldn't help admire him for his loyalty and dedication to the crew and his friends. There was really nothing any of them could do now but sit back, wait and hope for the best.

The worst part was explaining to Nelson why his boys were not at his bedside. When he learned of their current predicament he was _very_ determined to do something; Jamie had had to engage in world war three to keep the man from taking off on some mission to rescue Lee from himself. Will would have loved nothing more than to send the Admiral after Lee, but he wasn't willing to let Nelson kill himself in an effort just to make it to the parking lot. There was no way the man was in any shape to help the Captain out; and so with great reluctance he'd spent most of yesterday keeping the Admiral contained in Med-bay.

To make matters worse, if that was even possible at the moment, their current exec was missing as well. Jamie sincerely hoped that Crane had had a moment of common sense and taken Lyndon with him; two had a better chance than one at succeeding. With all the patience he could muster, Will kept one eye on his patient and one eye on the door for any sign of Captain Crane and Commander Davenport.

* * *

Goon 2 reached into the trunk of the car and tested the prisoner's restraints. Satisfied they would hold no matter how hard the man struggled, he hauled the man up and threw him over his shoulder. The parking lot was empty except for the one car and there was nothing in sight for miles. The old abandoned warehouse was deteriorating, but would fit Alexi's purposes.

Once inside, Goon 2 through his burden to the ground and went back to the door to chain it shut; they had to be certain that their prize would not get away. Alexi sat on a wooden chair in the middle of the large space and waited for the affects of the tranquillizer to wear off.

Lee awoke to the searing pain in his arms generated from them being pulled behind his back. The plastic ties were cutting into his wrists, and he wiggled his fingers to try and restore some feeling into them. The motion did not go unnoticed and Crane groaned as the thug hauled him to his feet and deposited him onto the chair opposite Alexi. He blinked in an effort to clear the blood that had run into his eye from the gash on his left temple. When his vision cleared, Alexi's wide grin greeted him.

"Captain Lee Crane, of the submarine _Seaview_, and ONI agent extraordinaire; we finally get to settle this."

"And just what is _all_ this?" demanded Crane.

"The final performance." Alexi pulled out a revolver and dumped the bullets into his hand. He held one up so Lee could take a good look. It didn't look like a regular bullet; it appeared to have some sort of liquid in it.

Alexi gestured to the object in his other hand. "This is quite the technological wonder; took them years to perfect it but they finally managed to do so. This bullet contains a much faster acting version of the poison that I gave to Charles. Instead of days the subject has mere hours, assuming they don't die from the bullet wound. I plan on giving each one of your friends a demonstration." His next words were punctuated by each bullet being replaced in the revolver. "Every. Last. One!"

Giving attitude to the man holding you prisoner and threatening to kill you is probably not the greatest idea, but Lee was going to go for broke. "You brother was an incompetent lunatic and deserves to rot in prison!"

"Oh, I don't think he's going to be there much longer."

The sound of a car engine grabbed Crane's attention. He watched the side door as he heard a car door slam and footsteps approach. The heavy metal door creaked open and the new arrival walked inside. Lee's blood began to boil.

"How could you?" Crane hissed at this newest betrayal.

Alexi's eyes lit up with glee. "Oh, don't be so hard on him Captain. I'm sure I gave him no choice."

All Lee could do was sit there and glare at Lyndon who offered no excuse or showed any sign of remorse for his forthcoming betrayal.


	8. Chapter 8

Ten days ago

Emily Davenport ran through the kitchen trying to yell at her brother through a bout of giggles as the five year old Jayden chased her. The name of the game was to try and place big green hand prints on his sister's soccer jersey; actually finger painting on the paper had lost its attraction ten minutes into the activity. The racket caught the attention of Lyndon who was trying to prepare dinner. He stepped around the island in time to snatch up his trouble making son from ruining the freshly washed shirt that Emily was wearing.

"Take off your shirt until it's time to go to practice," ordered Lyndon; then he focused on the squirming child in his grasp, "and _you_ stop terrorizing your sister. Paint stays on the paper, bud."

Lyndon sat Jayden on the counter and proceeded to clean up the paint that managed to cover the boy from head to toe. He had just completed the task as the phone started to ring. He lifted Jayden off the counter and sent him on his way, while Lyndon grabbed the phone.

"Hello," answered Davenport enthusiastically.

"Commander Davenport?" asked the man on the phone.

The tone and seriousness of the voice on the other end of the phone killed Lyndon's enthusiasm. He didn't recognize the voice and experience dictated that any unknown person referring to him by rank on a call usually didn't promise anything good.

"Yes, what can I do for you?"

"I have a business proposition for you." The voice was cold and calm.

"Who is this?" Davenport could feel apprehension and dread start to grow.

"I'm a close and personal friend of Charles's. You can call me Alexi and like I said I have a business venture that I believe would be beneficial for both of us."

"What do you want?" demanded Davenport. He'd read the reports regarding Alexi and his recent activities, and knew that nothing good was going to come from this conversation.

"Straight to business, I like that Lyndon. At present, someone rather important to me resides in prison."

"Well I'm all choked up that a sociopath of yours is doing hard time," Lyndon snapped.

Alexi chuckled. "I see Nelson doesn't teach his officers manners. I'll get to the part that interests you. I want you to break Logan out of prison and you're going to do it without Crane knowing. Then you will deliver Logan to me."

"Let's forget the how for a moment; _why_ would I do that?"

"Little Emily is quite the soccer star. I bet you're hoping she can use her skill to earn a scholarship and help cover the cost of University when she's older, and little Jayden seems to be a handful."

"Are you threatening me and my kids?" The cold grip of fear was married with hot rage that this man would go after the most important people in Lyndon's life.

"I'm just commenting on your pride and joy. If I was going to threaten then I'd tell you that the sunlight really brings out the red in Emily's hair and when she giggles she looks just like her mother. I would also tell you that that she looks really cute in that yellow jersey and in about a minute you're going to have to get a band aid for little Jayden."

A loud thud caught Davenport's attention and he whirled around to look out the window into the backyard. Outside Emily was picking Jayden up off of the ground where he fell off of the swing set. Alexi's description was playing out right in front of him. Time froze in place and Lyndon clinched the phone tighter in his hand. Alexi had eyes on his family right now. There could be some hired gun staring down the scope of a rifle aimed at his children.

"Now that I have your attention, let's discuss where you're going to bring Logan after you liberate him from prison."

* * *

Present

"My newest favourite member of your crew," sneered Alexi as he watched Lyndon move towards him and Crane. "You seem to be missing someone."

"Logan? Don't worry about him; he's somewhere safe for the moment. I figured you and I needed to talk first and make some amendments to our deal."

Only allowing little hints of his outrage show, Alexi snapped, "You're in no position to negotiate."

"I think I'm in the perfect position to negotiate; I have what you want. There's nothing to stop me from turning around and leaving you with nothing."

Crane could do nothing but sit and stare at his overly confident exec, who seemed to be completely at ease with dealing with this psychopath. Alexi had moved from his position right next to the Captain and less than gently nudged his gun into the side of Lee's head.

Alexi glared daggers at the man who thought he could walk in and start making demands when he held all the cards. He would humour Davenport for a few moments; after all they had time to waste; the clock was slowly counting down the minutes left to administer the antidote to Commander Morton.

"You'll turn over Logan, _now_; or I'll redecorate this place with your beloved Captain's brains."

Lyndon maintained his cool detachment, "I'm sorry, were you under the impression that we like each other? 'Cause I couldn't care less if you shoot him. In fact if you do, that means there's a chance I could get promoted." He needed to stall for time and he needed to try and get everything he could from Alexi.

"We had a deal!" reminded Alexi.

"Well, I'm changing it."

Lee's anger was bubbling to the surface; he was being betrayed by yet another person who had been assimilated into the NIMR family. "You traitorous bastard!"

The words bounced off of Davenport who didn't even bother to glance at his Captain. Instead he kept his sharp gaze fixated on the man with the gun. "Hand over the antidote and I'll give you the key to free your brother and instructions on where to find him."

"You know I kind of like you; you remind me of me when I was young." The sheer audacity of the young officer to march into the warehouse amongst all of Alexi's hired guns and make demands struck a chord with him. The exec knew what he wanted and, despite the threats to his family, was still going to try and save a fellow officer whose only crime was befriending Crane.

"The only deal you can make with me is to give me Logan and I won't butcher your lovely children. Believe me boy, if you piss me off, there is no limit to the things I can do to them. And I'll make sure every step of the way they know their daddy is responsible."

"Well you don't have to worry about them. There somewhere safe, where even you can't get to them. No matter what happens today, you're never going to lay a finger on them."

The words echoed in Crane's head his hatred that was directed at Lyndon switched gears and shot towards Alexi. Davenport and Crane didn't exactly get along but he wasn't about to wish harm on the young man's family. The recent revelation also shed some light on this apparent betrayal; Lee had given Davenport little reason to show him any loyalty but in the face of possibly losing his family, Lyndon was trying to save Chip.

The tense scene was shattered by the banging of doors and the smashing of windows. The three figures standing on the warehouse floor were joined by several men all aiming guns in their direction; what was supposed to be a secure location had just been compromised, and not in Alexi's favour.

Standing on the catwalks high above their heads, and standing guard at the doors, was a sea of red and blue clad men. While Lyndon had been engaging in negotiations with Alexi, several members of the _Seaview_ crew had taken out the enemy agents and secured the location. Kowalski led the charge to storm the warehouse, while Sharkey oversaw the restraining of the unconscious henchmen.

As Lee saw his crew standing there, a wave of relief washed over him. Things had finally taken a turn in their favour and, at last, Alexi wasn't going to get away with his schemes and torment any more.

Alexi quickly surveyed his new situation that was rapidly spiralling out of his control; no matter, he still had a few cards up his sleeve and a gun pointed at Crane's head. If it was the last thing he ever did, the Captain was going to pay for what he did to Logan and Itami.

A small smile pulled at the edges of Lyndon's mouth. "How do you like me now?"


	9. Chapter 9

Lee felt Alexi shift and knew he had to act soon. Summoning all of his strength he slammed his elbow into the man's stomach, as Lyndon managed to close the gap to pull Alexi's hand away from Crane's head. Alexi let out a grunt as Crane rolled out of the way, but Alexi still managed to get a shot off.

At the same time, Goon 2 and what was left of Alexi's men made a move on the _Seaview_ crewmembers. Small scuffles and gun fights broke out throughout the warehouse drawing everyone's attention away from the three men that had been standing in the middle of the building.

Crane heard Alexi hit the floor after the gunshot; he took a split second to do a mental check that the stray bullet didn't find its mark within him and then scrambled to his feet. It was difficult getting up with both of his hands still fastened together, but adrenaline spurred Lee on and he managed to contort himself to bring his hands out front. In a second Crane was on top of Alexi slamming his hand against the concrete floor trying to dislodge his tormentor's death grip on the gun.

The two struggled, raining punches down on one another. Lee finally gained the upper hand and delivered a solid punch to this opponent's head. Fuelled by months of pain and torment, Crane continued to hit him until he felt Ski place a hand on his shoulder. "Sir, I think you got him."

Lee paused for a moment with his hands still pulled back to deliver another blow. It would be so easy just to continue bashing this monster's skull in; he knew no one would blame him for losing control and taking this man out...then the watch beeped.

Everything else in the world disappeared under the sound of the beep. Three little blips of sound had never had more meaning. Three little blips signified his failure once again; and the feeling of desperation, hopelessness and agony ripped his soul apart. It would have never been easier than at that moment to kill someone with his bare hands. It would be so simple to just let his fists fly again and again and again; revenge could be so easy.

Lee closed his eyes and slowly lowered his fists; he could really use Chip's advice right now. As much as he wanted to kill Alexi in a bid for revenge on Chip's behalf, Lee knew that that wouldn't be what his friend would want. Lee reached into Alexi's jacket pocket and removed the black pouch containing the syringe of antidote.

"Take him away," sighed Crane as he looked at Kowalski who was cutting through Lee's bonds with a knife. The crewmen reached down and began zap strapping the unconscious man's hands together. Lee turned his head in the direction that Davenport had been in, before the scuffle that he'd been surprisingly absent from, had started. The sight that greeted him caused his breath to hitch.

Crane managed to drag himself the five feet towards the post Lyndon had managed to prop himself up on. He was pale and taking in shallow ragged breaths; hand clenched tightly to his side in a vain effort to hold in the bright red liquid spilling out onto the floor. Lee's heart rate speed up as Lyndon's was slowing down. The Captain shouted for the only person with medical training within reach, "Kowalski!"

Kowalski turned the prisoner over to Patterson to finish securing, the cause of all their problems; while he rushed over to try and tend to the injured exec. He knelt next to Crane and began assessing the situation. In conjunction with a bullet wound, there was the added twist of the specialized bullet. Even if Kowalski could keep Davenport alive to make it to the hospital, the poison from the bullet was going to kill; if Alexi's time line was accurate for this fast acting version, it would be soon rather than later.

Crane fingered the syringe in his hand. His time had run out to save his friend, but a small piece of him desperately wanted to hold on to hope that he could still save Chip. Was that small sliver of hope worth sentencing another man to death? There was only enough antidote to save one person, and not enough time to formulate another. So his choices were whether to hold on in case Morton was still alive, or give it to Davenport who might still die from his wound? The serious expression on Ski's face didn't offer a lot of hope for the young officer.

Kowalski looked at his Captain who was contemplating the needle in his hand. Davenport had recruited ten crewmen including Sharkey, Patterson, a recently returning to duty Riley and himself, in an effort to stop Alexi. Their foe had given Davenport a very detailed plot to break Logan out of prison, and after getting some volunteers they had commenced with the plan. Lyndon had explained that Alexi was monitoring the prison and would know if they had indeed broke Logan out or tried to double cross him by simply moving their target through official channels. All the men on the mission had accepted it without hesitation; this was their chance to help save their Captain and Mr. Morton.

They would complete their successful jail break when ONI was transferring Logan back to prison from being interrogated and barter Logan for the cure for Chip; then they would rescue Crane. After everyone had been taken into custody, they would retrieve Logan and return him to prison. The plan had worked perfectly up until Alexi got off a lucky shot and took down Lyndon with a poisoned bullet. As Ski watched Lee make his decision and inject the cure into the ailing man before them, he knew that all their careful planning was for naught.

Kowalski got up and headed outside to alert the Chief to their current situation and the need to have FS1 ready to go in a matter of minutes. Sharkey began the launch sequence as Ski grabbed some more medical supplies. If Crane was going to risk everything to save Davenport, then he was certain he would do everything in his power and training to get the exec to the hospital alive.

With Kowalski gone, Lee took over applying pressure to the still bleeding wound. He could tell that Lyndon was having trouble focusing as his glassy eyes lazily looked around the room. His skin was cold and clammy and his breathing was starting to slow.

"I guess I kind of owe you a thanks for saving my life this time," offered Crane.

"Th-this time? I've s-saved your life f-four times now," slurred Lyndon.

"You haven't had to save my life four times," Lee argued casually in an effort to keep the young man awake.

Lyndon held up four blood stained shaky fingers and counted them off as he gave examples, "the n-near miss with the r-rocks, Lao, M-mi-michelle and now this."

"You can't count the near miss, it didn't happen and you said Lao was going to let us go."

Davenport started to chuckle before the explosion of pain in his side made him reconsider. "He'ssss a drug l-lord. What p-part of drug lord gives you the im-impression he's a nice guy? _US_, he-he let _us_ go. B-b-because of me; you by yourself, he w-would have just sh-shot you."

It was with great determination and an unquenchable bloodlust that Alexi managed to find the energy to slam his cuffed hands into Patterson's face. As the crewman went down, Alexi grabbed the gun out of his hand and turned to aim it at his foe.

Lee heard Patterson cry out as he took the blow, and picked up the weapon he had taken away from Alexi earlier. With blinding speed he twisted with gun in hand and sent out the fatal shot. Alexi twisted in an effort to avoid a kick from Patterson; the bullet went off target and slammed into his side. He pressed his hands to the wound to stop the flow of blood, and fired off several rounds in all directions to create chaos and havoc. While everyone was taking cover form the wild shots, Alexi managed to drag himself out of the warehouse.

The moment of satisfaction Lee felt for hitting his target was quickly replace with a need to get Davenport onto FS1 and to a hospital. Alexi was injured and it was almost certain he would bleed to death in a matter of minutes and if that didn't do it, there was always the poison. He desperately wanted to see this through to the end; to watch the light go out in that smug bastard's eyes. Nothing would have been more satisfying than following the blood trail, cornering Alexi and putting a well deserved bullet in his head; but he couldn't leave a member of his crew to die. Besides, there was something almost poetic to leaving the man to die in a dark dank ally alone, and by the very thing the monster had planned to use to destroy everyone Lee cared about. Alexi had wanted an audience, for everyone to feel his wrath; letting him die alone, as an afterthought, would be a far more fitting end.

Kowalski spared a momentary glance at Pat to see if he was alright, as he rushed back into the warehouse carrying a stretcher and medical supplies. The two men carefully loaded Lyndon onto the stretcher and rushed him out of the building, leaving the crew to finish wrangling Alexi's men for the police that were just arriving to secure the scene.

Lee leaned back in his seat aboard FS1; he felt tired and done. The trip to the hospital had been a blur. Sharkey had gotten them there in record time. The hospital staff had been waiting on the roof top landing pad for them. The Chief had radioed ahead and alerted the medical facility they were coming with a seriously injured man.

Lyndon was unloaded and whisked off to surgery within minutes of their arrival. The first bit of news that made its way to the waiting room was the staff were very optimistic that Davenport would be alright. Upon hearing that, Lee had Kowalski stay to relay information between the hospital and NIMR, while Sharkey flew him back to face the inevitable.

Part of Crane wanted to tell Sharkey to just keep flying and never stop; maybe if he didn't have to hear the news that Alexi had succeeded in killing his friend then they could all pretend it wasn't true. If you don't see it then it never happened, right? The next thought Lee had that didn't focus on failure and Chip's death, was the Chief telling him that they'd landed.

With nothing more than autopilot, Crane made his way to Med-bay; everything was quiet and none of the corpsmen moved with a sense of urgency. His worst fear was confirmed when he locked eyes with the empty bed that Chip had once resided in. A mass of tangled wires and tubes littered the empty bed and floor. That was it. To come all this way and survive everything, just to lose Chip in the end anyways.

Lee couldn't tell how long he had been standing there but he jumped when someone placed a hand on his shoulder. "I was wondering when you were going to show up," said Will. His tone was soft and even; devoid of judgement and ridicule.

"I'm too late," whispered the Captain.

Jamieson eyed up the young man before him carefully. He had thought he saw Crane at his lowest when Base 21 blew up, but this was worse; there was only one thing that could make this better. "Come with me."

Lee felt himself being ushered towards Nelson's room. He just wanted to go and die in a corner not face his commanding officer, employer and friend and have to explain that he failed to save Chip once again; but he had no strength left to fight the doctor's guidance. This time there would be no hope that the enemy was keeping him alive somewhere; this time they had a body as proof.

The closer they got to the room, the harder it became to place one foot in front of another. Lee stopped short as he caught sight of the room through the window in the door; he could hear Nelson talking and laughing with someone. At least that meant the Admiral had made huge leaps in his recovery in the last few days; the next thing that grabbed his attention was the man sitting in the chair next to Nelson's bed.

Jamie could tell that Crane was completely and utterly at a loss for words, and decided to answer the questions that were eluding the Captain's lips. "We were running out of time after you left; it didn't look hopeful. I had every department working on trying to produce an antidote. Well you know the Admiral, there was no way he was going to sit in the sidelines and do nothing; bullet wound or not."

Lee tightened his grip on the door handle. "When did Chip . . .?"

"Yesterday morning."

The door pushed open and Crane walked in. The conversation immediately broke up and all eyes locked on the new arrival.

"Ah, Lee, come to join us for dinner have you?" The Admiral smiled, but his eyes said they would discuss his reckless actions later.

"Everything taken care of?" asked Chip; who mirrored Nelson's 'we'll talk about specifics later' demeanour.

Lee nodded, at least attempting to gather his wits, as he replied more calmly than he felt "everything is as it should be."


	10. Chapter 10

1 month later

Lee knocked lightly on the open office door, and watched as Lyndon winced slightly from bending over to drop some files into a box.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as Lyndon slowly straightened up and leaned against the desk.

"Oh, you know, it only hurts when I breathe."

"You don't have to do this right now. I'm sure it can wait; you're still on medical leave for the next two months at least," offered the Captain as he indicated the moving boxes spread across the office.

"I'd rather spend my recovery time at home and besides, I have my old position waiting for me whenever I'm ready. It's easier to move the kids back home now rather than later."

"You already have your position back?" Crane couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice.

"Never really lost it," Lyndon smiled knowingly, "nobody expected this to be a permanent thing; though I suspect I lasted longer than most people thought I would."

"If it means anything to you; despite everything, I think you would've been a good exec - hell you _were_ a great exec."

Davenport's smile widened a little more. "It wasn't my skills that were ever in question; it's just you have a reputation of being a bit of an ass to new guys."

The former exec paused for a moment before continuing, "So, Nelson saved the day. If I'd know he was going to pull a rabbit out of his hat at the eleventh hour I would have reconsidered getting shot."

An oddly comfortable silence filled the room. Lyndon, less than gracefully, proceeded to drop items into the various boxes that were scattered around the office in an effort not to further aggravate his injury. Crane had mixed feelings about their newest crewman; sure he was a pain in the ass, but he was _their_ pain in the ass. He had risked everything in an effort to bring down Alexi, and now he was leaving to go back to his old crew.

"I heard Logan got away," mentioned Davenport.

"Yes; when Patterson and Riley went back to the storage centre you stashed him in, they found he'd escaped."

A serious expression crossed the former exec's face. "Are you worried?"

Lee had been trying not to dwell on all the things that Logan could be up to now that he was free from prison. There was a very good chance that the man would take the death of his brother and the imprisonment of his daughter very personally.

"If he is going to try anything, it will take time to get organized. Being locked up for the last four years should have kept him out of the loop. With any luck, while he's trying to re-establish contacts and make plans, ONI will be able to track him down and put him back where he belongs."

"One can hope that something will go right. How are Nelson and Morton doing?"

"Jamie released the Admiral from Med-bay two days ago with strict orders to stay at home and rest; but if he must be at work, to be restricted to very light duty."

"How's that working out?"

"Let's just say, it's not going Jamie's way. Chip got the final clearance to return to unrestricted duty; and in another month when the Admiral's given the all clear, we'll be back to one hundred percent."

Lyndon just finished putting the last book in a box when Chip arrived.

"I've got two crewmen coming to load these boxes in a delivery truck later. The office is officially yours again," informed Lyndon.

Davenport made his way to the door as Lee said, "maybe we'll see you around."

"God, I hope not!" Lyndon replied, then whispered to Chip as he passed, "you can keep him; I'm outta here."

Chip patted Lyndon on the shoulder as he left, and moved to sit down at what was once his desk again; it felt good to be back.

"What did he say to you?" asked a curious Captain.

"Nothing, Lee." Chip began to open his desk drawers. Much to his surprise everything was exactly the way he had left it - all of his supplies were back in the right drawer, all of his files were in their correct place; even the paper clips were organized the way he liked them. It was a far cry from the organization system he saw Davenport had implemented when he occupied the office. "Looks like things are back to normal."

* * *

Riley nervously clenched and unclenched his hands as he walk down the hall. He had received his official summonses when he arrived at NIMR, ten minutes late, again. He rapped lightly on the door and heard the bark to come in.

Chip Morton was gladly waiting in his office to read the riot act to the young crewman. It was the usual, nothing Riley hadn't heard before and was sure he would hear again at some point; but this time it was music to his ears. He never thought he'd be so happy to hear one of the exec's rants. Riley never realized how much he'd missed them, until he thought they would never see Morton again; it just wasn't the same or as reassuring to be lectured by anyone else.

At the conclusion of the lecture Riley asked, "permission to speak sir?"

"Go ahead," nodded Chip.

"It's good to have you back Mr Morton."

A smile spread across the exec's lips, "It's good to be back. Dismissed."

The End.

(sereis 5 of 5)

* * *

Thank-you so much to everyone who read this story and those who stuck with the whole series. Thank-you for taking this ride.

Special thanks to my review crew who have been very supportive not only on this story but the whole series.

My biggest thanks to Tracy137 for her incredible support and Beta job that not only included this story but half of this series.


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